A Big Heart
by StarInHeaven1014
Summary: “She said that she was surprised you had enough room in your heart for me…” she gulped, tears falling from her eyes as she spoke.


**Finally! Yes, this has been sitting in my Word Documents folder, for like, ever, and I've finally got it posted. I'm not to happy with the very end, but its Troyella fluff to the highest level! Yep...so enjoy!**

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The world was quiet as the sun set in the west, its bright aura of illuminating colors filling the gray sky with a rainbow of beauty, that of which was so perfect it looked like a painted picture, so warm and inviting. The large pond of cool water mirrored the sunset, echoing its every ray and doubling the perfection and beauty. Trees circled the pond, their green bushy branches extending over the water. It was all so, so perfect…or so it seemed.

A small sob broke the still silence, and a petite girl brushed a tear off of her tanned cheek. Wiping her brown eyes, she hugged her knees to her chest on the dewy grass, and paused there, looking out from her spot on the hill overlooking the pond, and into the sky. Her eyes, wet from tears, quivered slightly, her gaze falling to her knees. Another sob was released as she put her head in her hands, her fragile frame shaking slightly.

As the minutes passed, her sobbing ceased, and although the tears still occasionally dropped from her brown eyes, she seemed deep in thought…

Nothing was the way she wanted it to be. Nothing. Her mother was barely home-always working so they wouldn't have to move before she graduated-and her father had stopped calling to catch up long ago. The homework was being piled on with the exams coming up, and Taylor's urging her to study for the up coming Decathlon only added to the pressure. Callbacks were around the corner and Sharpay and Ryan never ceased to remind her and Troy that their 'short reign as stars' was over.

And that brought her to him.

He was the only thing that kept her happy…that helped her live another day under the pressure. But now there was this…she knew she shouldn't let the thought bother her but ever since that new girl…

_Flashback._

"_And here is the Drama Club board," Gabriella gestured towards the bulletin board on her left, watching a quirky red-head nod her head with enthusiasm. _

"_Ooh, your name!" the girl, whose name was Jenny, squeaked with delight as she raised her finger to Gabriella's signed name on the board. Gabriella nodded, already annoyed with the girl's constant high-pitched voice. The red-head had become excited at everything, from finding a chewed piece of gum in her locker to Chad's puffy hair. _

"_Ooh, and who's-?" she began lifting her pudgy finger to the side, away from Gabriella's name-it being her Senior year Gabriella had signed up for the pair auditions once again-but then stopped, her big brown eyes getting wider by the millisecond. She looked awe struck, her mouth hanging open to form an 'o'._

"_Ooh, look at h-!" once again she stopped short, for what had obviously been the object of her affection had strutted up to Gabriella, wrapping his arms around her stomach and kissing her on the cheek. She giggled softly, shifting her eyes from Jenny, whose mouth still hung open, to him, his tanned face beside hers. Widening her eyes she gestured towards Jenny._

"_Ooooh," he nodded, removing his arms from around her and standing up straight, grinning, and causing Gabriella to smile. His grin always made her do that…_

"_I'm Troy." He extended his hand, his eyes oozing in charm._

_Jenny just froze, her mouth hanging open slightly and her eyes wider then Gabriella had seen them-she had seen them pretty big in the last half of the day._

"_Um, okay," Troy took his hand back, looking at Gabriella and shrugging slightly. "Gabs, I'll see you later," he bent over and kissed her cheek lightly before hurrying off down the hallway, automatically joining in with a group of friends._

"_Ooh, my gawd!" Jenny stared, awe struck, at Gabriella, who just looked back at her, confused. "Is that-?" she pointed at the Drama Club sheet and at the name next to Gabriella's that the red-head had began to notice before. _

"_Oh yeah, that's Troy," Gabriella nodded._

"_You two are a couple!" Jenny squealed._

_Gabriella looked down the hallways, flustered and full of embarrassment for the new girl who she had been showing around that day. "Um, yeah?" she leaned forward and spoke quieter, willing Jenny to do the same._

"_Oh my gawd!" she shrieked even louder, and a few heads turned. Gabriella's face reddened. Jenny continued, "He's the guy I heard about! The super popular guy my cousin who graduated here last year was telling me about! WHOA! She told me he was like, THE hottest guy in school, was super nice, and single-but obviously not anymore-and the star of the basketball team!"_

_Gabriella winced, nodding as she heard the second bell ring. Luckily free period was next._

_Jenny didn't seem to notice, "WOW! I can't believe you guys are together!" she began to walk off in an obscure direction, much to Gabriella's dismay. The brunette pulled on the new girl's arm and led her towards the library. She wouldn't be able to talk there._

_Jenny had yet to slow down, "I mean, you're the Decathlon team girl, whiz kid, math girl, Honor student. And he's the most popular guy in school, star basketball player, everybody's favorite, all around nice guy. Everybody loves him, and he's probably got to love most of them back."_

_Oddly enough, Gabriella found herself listening intently to Jenny, but as they neared the library, she put a finger to her lips and entered the room. Jenny nodded, but leaned forward and whispered as the two sat down at a work table, "I'm just surprised he's got room in his heart for you…no offense or anything."_

_Gabriella froze, frowned, and gave her a weak smile. Jenny had obviously meant no harm, but those last words she had spoken had pained Gabriella's heart…Troy did love a lot of people: his parents, teammates, and other friends from around school…the list was long. And then there was basketball, his life and his passion, what he _loved _to do. She imagined that one sport taking up so much space in his heart…Did he have enough room in his heart for her, the freaky math girl?_

_End Flashback._

God, why did that girl have to get that into her head? It hadn't left at all…and directly after school, when Gabriella would normally have been driven home by Troy, she had fled, walking briskly down the street a few blocks to the city's park, one set off of the main road. She felt bad leaving him probably standing near the Drama Club board-where they usually met-without a reason, but she prayed he'd think she'd gotten a ride home from Taylor.

But then again, with so much already filling up his heart, she doubted he'd care.

_You're wrong. _Her heart told her_. He loves you and he always will._

But her mind told her otherwise, and being the Academic-girl that she was, her mind seemed to be taking over.

A slight chill sent shivers down her spine, the New Mexico air sporting coolness to the moderate warmth, a climate she relished. But right now she wasn't going to marvel at the temperature, or at the view from her position on the hill, one that, with trees and a path behind her, shouldn't have been considered a hill at all…more so the pond and some of its surroundings were more in a valley. And with this set up, it allowed her to have her back to the parking lot, there being an SUV pulling in, a boy sitting in the front seat.

His arm was out of the window, and his sandy locks were being tussled in the breeze being let in by the open window. His eyes were fixed on the girl, a sense of worry in his ocean blue gaze.

Silently, he got out of the car, his hands in his pockets, and he trudged over to the girl. He'd known she was there…it was her favorite place, other than their spot on the roof top of course. She usually came there when there were problems in the back of her mind, whether it had to do with her father, school…So far it hadn't had anything to do with him.

"Gabriella?" his voice was soft as he leaned against a tree trunk, one of his Puma tennis shoes flat against the tree.

She turned just her head to face him, a look of distress still on her face. "Hey," was all she said before she turned back to the pond.

He raised an eyebrow. Still silently, he went over to her and sat next to her small body. All she did was glance at him quickly, her eyes glassy and her cheeks flushed. He tilted his head in her direction, never removing his gaze from the pond, just as she was doing. "Missed you after school today," he spoke after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, um, I decided to come here."

"Oh." He nodded his head.

She gulped and glanced up at him nervously, "Um, I'm sorry, I should've told you."

"Nah, its ok. I was just worried that's all. So I came and found you." He grinned, and she did so as well, though it was barely recognizable.

"Hm."

"Gabi?" Now he turned his head towards her, his eyes searching her hesitant face for some sort of sign, "What's wrong? You seemed fine when I saw you earlier with that new girl you were showing around." She couldn't bare that sad look in his eyes.

"It was nothing, really. I just-," she paused, and took a deep breath, before facing him again. "Jenny, that girl, said something…and it's just been on my mind a lot…"

He nodded. "Do you…wanna tell me, um, what it is?" he saw her look at him, some sort of insecurity in his voice, "I mean, you don't have to if you don't wanna." His eyes were so sad that she couldn't necessarily help herself from grinning slightly at him, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the tear marks on her tanned face.

"No," she gulped, "I do, I mean, I will…" Biting her lip, his eyes met hers, and she felt a chill run down her spine, "See, um, she was, well, uh, very impressed with you," she grinned up at him, and saw him sit back, looking out onto the pond with a widened surprise…She giggled slightly, "Yeah, it was all a very…weird…experience…Walking her around I mean."

He smiled slightly and nodded, his hand finding a spot in the grass behind her as he leaned back. "Ah."

"MmHmm…Yeah, and um, she kind of said some things about her cousin…one that had graduated last year, and some of the stuff her cousin had told her about it and…well…"

"Whoa, I think I remember her cousin. That new girl did look pretty familiar…she's practically an exact replicate of her cousin. I think her name was um…Sophie…yeah, Sophie. She was…slightly different." He put on an odd face and Gabriella smiled.

"Um…well," Gabriella looked down at her hands, her fingers playing with the ring on her hand. "She mentioned how, um, Sophie knew you and about you being the 'basketball guy' or whatever…Jenny said she thought you must have a lot of people in your heart…"

Troy nodded slightly, "Yeah."

"And then she told me how she was…surprised that um," she felt tears sting her eyes, and she turned away from him. But then she felt an arm around her shoulder, and his hug engulfed her, pulling her back to him. She buried her head in his chest, tears falling smoothly down her cheeks and onto his shirt. Sighing, she leaned away from him biting her lip as she wiped the tears from his shirt. "Sorry," she muttered.

He grabbed her hand, stopping her from brushing the tears from his shirt away. "Shh, come on, tell me what's wrong," his voice was low and calming and with a silent sob she closed her eyes, tears wet on her eyelashes.

"She-she said that she was surprised you had enough room in your heart for m-me…" she gulped, tears falling from her eyes as she spoke. He pulled her to his chest once more, his hand gently running through her hair. "An-and, that made me wonder if, um, you…did…" she mumbled into his chest, barely audibly. But he heard it, and he held her closer, kissing the top of her head and rocking her slightly.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and looked up at him, tears still on the brims of her chocolate eyes. "I'm sorry Troy…I'm so-sorry."

"Gabs, no, please, Gabi, don't be. Gabriella, I love you, and ever since I first met you I think I have. I know it may seem odd…and it was to everyone at first, but Gabriella, we broke free from everything, and it made me realize something." He pulled her so her sad eyes looked directly into his shining blue ones, "Gabriella, my entire life there has always been a special spot in my heart for you. And no matter how many other people I love, please know that I will always love you. " He wiped a tear from her face, and with a grin he finished, "I've got a pretty big heart."

Gabriella smiled through her tears, that of which were now of happiness. "Troy…thank you so much…" She placed her head on his chest once more, this time not out of sadness but out of love and thankfulness, "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he grinned, kissing her softly on her head once more, his arms wrapped around her.

"C'mon, let's go get something to eat," he stood up, his big hands pulling her up with him. She smiled, wiping a few more tears away.

"Troy, we've got exams tomorrow," she giggled, her body becoming warm as he interlaced his fingers with hers.

"Ah, but that's the beauty of it. We can study together…" he grinned, pulling her closer to him. She rolled her eyes playfully, looking down at their hands, his fingers playing with hers.

"Troy, every time we've tried that you've ended up trying to kiss me or…"

"Admit it though. You like it." He grinned, bringing their connected hands to his mouth and kissing her fingers. She giggled, feeling her face flush.

"But exams…" she bit her lip, watching him look at her expectantly, their glances playing with the others. After a moment of his silent pleas, Gabriella cracked. "Fine," she rolled her eyes, a grin tugging on the sides of her lips. "We can get something to eat and then we'll study…"

He smiled at her, pulling her so she hugged him from the side as he began walking towards his parked car. "Yeah…_study_…" Gabriella noticed the sarcasm in his voice and pulled away from him slightly, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Troy!" He just grinned pulling her back towards him and kissing the top of her head. Sighing, she grinned slightly. God, she felt like the luckiest girl in the world right now…he was hers, no one else's. Suddenly, a thought came to her, "Troy? Has your heart ever broken?" she looked up at him, watching him ponder her sudden question.

The two stopped walking as he spoke, "I'm sure it has. But you filled all of those cracks." He grinned down at her, and Gabriella felt tears of happiness sting her eyes. Pulling away from him, she stood up right and wiped her eyes. He just stood there grinning.

"God Troy, go ahead and make me cry some more why don't you?" she half-laughed, eyeing him through the blur of tears in her eyes.

"Hmm…I guess it comes with having a boyfriend with such a big heart, huh?" he smirked, taking a step closer to her and wrapping his arms gently around her waist. She removed her hands from her eyes and placed them on his arms.

"I guess it does," she grinned, reaching up on her tip toes and kissing him on the lips.

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**Ya, so um, go review! Oh, and special thanks to my cousin 'StrengthToBelieve' for helping me with revisions!**


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